LTA director responds

Thursday

Sep 19, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Editor: This is in response to the editorial regarding LTA grants:

Editor: This is in response to the editorial regarding LTA grants:The Lexington Tourism Authority is fully funded by hotel occupancy tax, therefore when grant applications are presented first consideration is given to events that will indeed put "heads in beds." Without those "heads in beds," the LTA could not advertise, could not promote and most certainly could not support any new or existing events.American Legion State Tournament will guarantee hotel rooms for teams during the five-day tournament with hotel numbers rapidly increasing as you add the families. These folks won't just stay in the hotels, they will eat in our restaurants, shop in our shops, visit our attractions, drink wine from our wineries and purchase gas to get back home. We know the tournament will economically impact our community from our conversation with towns that have hosted the tournament in the past.The N.C. Music & Arts Festival is a wonderful event and has the potential of becoming bigger and better each year and will be supported by the LTA. Although last year's event hosted 1,000 folks, the hotel overnight numbers were limited. Next year, the event can be considered again for a grant using details of the success from 2013 and hotel overnights as part of the discussion.All things are taken into consideration by the board when viewing applications. There is no cookie cutter method; each is considered for its own merits. More important than getting the name of the LTA out is to get the name of any festival or event out to potential visitors, and we indeed plan to do just that!Robin BivensExecutive directorLexington Tourism Authority

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.